Calvin's Institutes: March 13

John Calvin's Institutes in a Year · Mar 13, 2026 · 12m

Calvin pushes the Sixth and Seventh Commandments far deeper than outward behavior, showing that God’s law governs not only the hand but the heart. Murder is not merely the act of shedding blood; it begins wherever anger, hatred, or the desire to harm another person takes root, because every human being bears the image of God and belongs to the same human family. Likewise, chastity is not merely the avoidance of adultery but the disciplined ordering of desire according to God’s design for marriage. Calvin argues that purity of life requires both inward restraint and outward obedience: we must…